


Pink Cat Ears

by the_technicolor_whiscash



Category: The Mentalist
Genre: Cho's holding a party and everyone is invited, F/M, halloween party
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-31
Updated: 2016-10-31
Packaged: 2018-08-28 03:26:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,510
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8430031
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_technicolor_whiscash/pseuds/the_technicolor_whiscash
Summary: Lisbon is invited to a Halloween Party at Cho's house, and at first she isn't going to go, but Jane convinces her to. And wherever Jane goes, chaos ensues.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Oh boy here we go jisbon fluff

Lisbon walked into the office on Monday and sighed. Halloween. One of the worst days of the year to be a cop. She used to love it as a kid, but working as a cop had taught her about the more sinister side of Halloween, the side with people committing crimes and, occasionally, murder.  
Of course, Jane was sitting on his couch sipping tea, wearing his usual three-piece suit. But today he had a new accessory: a pair of glittery pink cat ears.  
"Morning, Jane." Lisbon said, eyes locked on the cat ears.  
"Good morning, Lisbon!" Jane replied cheerfully, giving his signature cocky smile.  
"Where'd you get those cat ears?" Lisbon asked. She seriously hoped that he'd take them off before they went on a case. Or before Hightower saw them.  
He reached a hand up and patted one of the ears. "They were given to me by a little girl. We solved her father's murder, and in return, she gave me these wonderful ears."  
Lisbon nodded. She could understand the sentimental value, but did he really have to wear them to work?  
Jane noticed her expression. "You don't like them, do you?"  
Lisbon rolled her eyes. "Just don't let Hightower catch you wearing them."  
Of course, she knew she couldn't deter him from wearing them. But at least she could try.  
Then, she heard the sound of heels clicking on the floor behind her. Speak of the devil.  
"Good morning, Madeline!" Jane said, and Lisbon noticed that Hightower's eyes also went directly to the pink cat ears.  
"I see you're getting into the spirit of the season, Jane." She turned towards Lisbon. "No cases yet, but I'd expect one soon."  
Lisbon nodded, and Hightower walked away.  
"See, Lisbon? People like them!" Jane said, beaming.  
Lisbon rolled her eyes. "Sure, Jane."  
As she walked into her office, Lisbon noticed a small package on her desk, with "Happy Halloween!" written on it in Jane's handwriting. She glanced through the door to see him laying on his couch, a grin still spread across his face.  
She opened it delicately, expecting something to explode or for it to launch spiders into her face, but to her pleasant surprise, neither of those things happened. It contained a headband with small pink flowers arranged artistically on it. She smiled, picking it up and inspecting it.  
She still expected it to be some kind of trick, but she put it on nonetheless. It suited her quite well.  
Jane poked his head into Lisbon's office. "Ah! I see you found my little gift for you. It looks good."  
Lisbon tried to cover up her smile but ended up just sort of smirking. "Why'd you get me this? Is it some kind of trick? Do the flowers squirt water?"  
Jane laughed. "Lisbon, you know I wouldn't do that to you. I figured you wouldn't have anything to wear on Halloween, so I got you that headband. Plus, now we match!"  
Lisbon gave him her best disapproving look, but she made no movement to take off the headband. "Well... thanks."  
Jane winked and went to walk out of the door when he paused. "Lisbon, are you going to Cho's Halloween party tonight?"  
Lisbon shrugged. "I don't know, I might just spend the night at home relaxing."  
Jane smirked. "You mean getting a start on paperwork and reading old case files, before watching a movie from the 1980's and then going to bed early."  
Lisbon gave him her classic look of disapproval. "I have a life." She sighed. "But yeah. That's probably what I'll be doing."  
Jane leaned against the doorway. "Well, why don't you go to the party? Itll be fun! I heard Cho's costume is gonna be interesting this year."  
That made Lisbon smile. Last year Cho had made this amazing set of Hogwarts robes and dazzled everyone with his wand, which could remotely activate everything in his house, from his lights to his coffee maker. It was intense. And then she remembered the one thing stopping her from going. "But I don't have a costume."  
Jane clapped his hands together. "Well, we'll just have to go out and get you one then!" And before she knew it, Lisbon was riding shotgun in Jane's Citroën, speeding towards the nearest Halloween supply store. 

\----------------

After an extensive period of time browsing and trying on Halloween costumes, Lisbon finally settled on one. It was a sort of Robin Hood-style costume, which made her look really badass. As she walked out of the dressing room, Jane clapped.  
"I think we've found your costume!" He said, smiling victoriously.  
Lisbon raised an eyebrow. "You're not just saying that so that we can get out of this store?"  
Jane chuckled. "No, I enjoy Halloween stores! Plus, any time flies by when I spend it with you, Lisbon."  
Lisbon felt herself blush a little, and she quickly went back into the changing room to put her work clothes back on.  
"How long have we been here, anyway?" She yelled out of the room.  
"About three hours." Jane yelled back.  
"Three hours?!? Jane, we have to get back to work!" Lisbon yelled, frantically shoving the costume into its bag and running out of the changing room.  
"Oh, come on Lisbon, it's not that bad." Jane said, holding her bag while she pulled her shoe on.  
"Maybe not for you, Jane, but I actually care about keeping my job!" Lisbon threw the costume on the counter and quickly checked out. Together, she and Jane sprinted out to the car. Well, she sprinted, but Jane jogged behind her. He was never in a rush to get back to work. 

\--------------

Michael Jackson's "Thriller" played in the background as Lisbon drove into Cho's driveway. There were only a few cars there already, but she noticed that Jane's Citroën was there in the driveway. Oh boy. Jane was always the life of the party.  
Lisbon adjusted her costume and walked up to Cho's door. She gave a quick knock, and the door was quickly opened... by Jane.  
"Ah! Lisbon! Welcome!" Jane said, ushering her in the door.  
"Jane, what the hell are you wearing?" Lisbon exclaimed, noticing Jane's outlandish outfit. He was wearing an oddly detailed Captain America outfit, complete with a metal shield. That's right. Metal. You could kill a man with that shield.  
"Oh, this? Cho made it for me. Isn't it great?" Jane beamed as they walked into Cho's living room. He put an arm around her shoulder and loudly announced, "Hey, look who decided to show up!"  
Lisbon rolled her eyes, but noticed that the only people there so far were her, Jane, Rigsby, Van Pelt, and Cho himself, so there wasn't many people for Jane to embarrass her in front of. "Thanks, Jane."  
Van Pelt, who was dressed as a classic witch, smiled and mouthed "sorry." Lisbon wondered if Jane had done something along the same lines to her. It wouldn't surprise her in the least.  
Rigsby, dressed as a cowboy, laughed. But then Lisbon looked at Cho. And man, was Cho's outfit intense. It was a Darth Vader costume, complete with a respirator and flashing lights on the front. You couldn't even tell it was Cho, except when he took the mask off.  
"Cho, when Jane told me you were going all out, he wasn't exaggerating!" Lisbon said, attempting to lighten the mood and make the situation less geared towards her.  
Cho gave a sort of half-smile. "Thanks. My mom taught me how to sew and I've been using that knowledge for a while. It's pretty useful."  
And with that, the party began. Spooky music, drinks, and snacks filled the house, and more and more people joined the party, both CBI agents and others who had become friends with the team over time. In the end, there was about 25 people there, which was a lot considering the size of Cho's house. Lisbon was never really a big fan of parties, so she just hung around the snack table for a while making small talk with whoever walked by. Then, Jane approached her.  
"Having fun, Teresa?" He said, and her heart began to race. She loved it when he called her by her first name. Heck, she probably loved him. But you can't date within the CBI, so she couldn't date him even if she wanted to. And yes, she did want to. She desperately wanted to date him, to kiss him, to tell him that she loved him. But she couldn't. Not if she wanted to keep her job.  
"Yep." She said, taking a bite out of one of those little pizza bagel things.  
Jane raised an eyebrow. "You don't sound like you're happy."  
Lisbon rolled her eyes. "Patrick, trust me. I'm having a great time."  
He tried to hide his smile when she called him Patrick, but his happiness was apparent. He picked up one of those pizza bagel things and began to look at it quizzically in an attempt to lighten the mood. "What even are these things? They're not quite pizzas, yet not quite bagels."  
Lisbon smirked. "They're called pizza bagels for a reason."  
Jane bit into one and glared at it. "Can you even call this pizza?"  
Lisbon couldn't help but laugh at his antics. She knew he was just trying to get her to enjoy the party, and it was working. His humor had improved her mood dramatically.  
He began using his Captain America shield as a very large plate and was taking snacks of every name, shape, and form. He probably could have fit the entire snack table into that shield if he tried hard enough. Throughout his snack conquest, he kept asking Lisbon her opinions of the various food items, and the ones she said were good he got. They then stood side by side in front of the table, munching food and listening to the Ghostbusters theme which now rang through the house. It was a pretty sweet party. Cho had rigged up an Xbox with Just Dance, a karaoke machine, and a tv which played Friday the 13th on loop.  
"Great party, huh Lisbon!" Rigsby said, walking over. Well, I say walking, more like stumbling. He was clearly drunk. In fact, quite a few partygoers were drunk.  
Lisbon just nodded. "Yeah, it's pretty good."  
"Van Pelt and I are gonna do a 'Thriller' duet, wanna come watch?" Rigsby asked drunkenly.  
"No thanks. I'm sure Jane would love to watch, wouldn't you-" But before she could finish her sentence, Jane had already disappeared. Leave it to him to disappear the minute an awkward situation arose.  
"Alright, well, if you wanna come see, we'll be over there!" And with that, Rigsby turned around and stumbled his way back over to the karaoke machine. Lisbon wondered if he'd even remember anything in the morning. Kind of like that time they had a party for her, and he got blackout drunk and stood on a table and sang Bohemian Rhapsody. That was... special.  
"Is he gone?" Jane whispered, and Lisbon did a 360. But she had no idea where he was.  
"Jane? Where are...!" She then noticed his head poking out from under the table.  
"Down here! The party is best experienced from this angle." Jane said, and Lisbon kneeled down near his head.  
"Are you seriously going to hide under the table all night?" Lisbon asked, and noticed that it was a pretty good hiding place. The tablecloth covered up the entirety of the table, so unless you purposely looked under it, you wouldn't be able to see Jane... or his enormous shield full of food.  
"I have everything I need under here." He said, waving a hand towards his shield. "Care to join me?"  
Lisbon was about to say no, but then she thought about it. Hiding under the table with Jane was childish, but it did prevent her from having to talk to any of the drunk partygoers, or having to witness Rigsby singing 'Thriller' with Van Pelt. She sighed. "Alright, fine. But only for a little bit. People will notice if we've disappeared."  
Jane smiled and lifted up the tablecloth, allowing Lisbon to crawl under. He then proceeded to pull his phone out of his pocket. "I have a wide selection of spooky shows and movies saved on here. Wanna watch one?"  
Lisbon shoved a deviled egg into her mouth and nodded. Jane tapped his phone a few times and then leaned it up against the table leg, allowing both of them to see it. Apparently he had decided on Misery, the movie based on the Stephen King book. Lisbon had never seen it, but she'd heard that it was creepy. 

\---------------

An hour later, Lisbon and Jane both deeply invested in Misery, Lisbon realized how long they had been hiding under the table.  
"Jane, we've been under this table for an hour! People are going to wonder where we've been!" Lisbon whispered harshly into Jane's ear.  
"Aww, but it's just getting to the good part!" He whined. Patrick Jane was an expert at whining.  
"As much as I'd like to keep watching this movie, we really should get out from underneath the table." Lisbon began to lift up the tablecloth when she felt Jane's hand on her shoulder.  
"Wait, Lisbon." He said, his voice turning soft. "What's stopping you from staying under the table? I know you'd much rather just watch a movie than have to be interacting with people you don't know at a party."  
Lisbon sighed. "Because, Jane, people might think we're up to something."  
"So? Who cares what people think? I want you to be happy, Teresa." Lisbon then realized that Jane's hand was on top of hers. She didn't move her hand, though. His hands were soft, welcoming. She almost got so distracted that she didn't leave. Almost.  
"Well I want to keep my job, Jane." And with that, she lifted the tablecloth and walked away.  
She didn't look back to see whether or not Jane had come out from beneath the table. She couldn't let herself be distracted by him. She loved her job, and she knew that he was so invested in his search for Red John that he wouldn't even consider being in a relationship until they caught him. So it was just best to avoid getting too close to him. They could be friends, but nothing more.  
Lisbon decided that it was in her best interest to leave the party. Besides, everyone was pretty drunk, and usually once that happens the party starts to go downhill, at least in her opinion. She sought out Cho, and told him that she was leaving.  
"Already? Alright. Well, see you tomorrow at work." Cho said, giving her a handshake. That was Cho for you. A man of few words.  
As Lisbon walked out to her car, she could hear footsteps behind her. She turned around and saw that it was Jane, attempting to run towards her while having that insane Captain America shield trapped to his back.  
"Lisbon! Wait!" Jane yelled.  
"Sorry, Jane. I'm leaving." Lisbon said, and unlocked her car with the clicker thing.  
"Lisbon, please, wait." Jane said as he approached her.  
"Jane, just let me go. If you know I don't like parties, then just let me go home and relax." Lisbon said as she opened her car door.  
Jane placed a hand on her arm. That hand again. It made her heart race, and he knew it. "Lisbon, I'm begging you, don't leave me at this party alone. Everyone here is drunk except Cho, and he's not exactly one who loves conversation."  
Lisbon smirked. "Why don't you go back under your table and finish the movie?"  
Jane gave her a pleading look. "Well, I'm not going to finish it without you. Besides, there's only 45 minutes left of it. Why not come back and we can finish it together?"  
He was making a compelling argument, but she refused to bend to his will. "No, Jane."  
She got into her car, closed the door, and started the engine. It took all she could muster not to go back to the party, but she knew it was for the best. At least, she hoped it was.  
And then she saw Jane's face. His eyes, silently pleading with her to stay, finally broke her resolve. She sighed, and then turned her car off.  
Jane beamed as Lisbon slid out of her car and walked towards him. "Fine, I'll stay. But only to the end of the movie. Then I'm going home."  
They walked inside together, Jane smiling like an idiot and Lisbon not regretting her decision. 

\---------------

The end credits of Misery had long gone by when Lisbon suddenly woke up. She must've fallen asleep under the snack table with Jane. She then realized that Jane's arm was around her. Her heart began to race once again, and she considered rolling to the side in an attempt to shake his arm off. But his arm was warm, and it was kind of chilly in Cho's house, so she figured why not just stay there.  
And then Jane spoke. "Hey, Lisbon, you're awake."  
She quickly rolled to face him. Her eyes were drawn to his luxurious hair, which was ever so slightly messed up from laying on the floor. She then focused back on the problem at hand. "Jane, how long have we been here?"  
Jane moved his arm (which was still around Lisbon) and checked his watch. "Few hours."  
"A few hours?" Lisbon exclaimed, and quickly lifted up the tablecloth to observe the rest of the party. She then realized that most of the partygoers were asleep, either on the couches or the floor. From the sound of snoring, Lisbon figured there was also one on top of the snack table.  
"Don't worry, we're not the only ones passed out." Jane pulled his arm back towards himself and boosted himself up on his elbows. "Although I suppose we're the only ones not passed out drunk."  
Lisbon smirked. "So, what do we do now?"  
Jane laid back on his side. "Well, I guess we just wait until everyone else wakes up."  
Lisbon laid on her back and pulled out her phone. No missed emails, probably because a large percentage of the CBI was passed out on the floor. One missed text, a video from Rigsby, of him and Van Pelt 'singing' the Eye of the Tiger, if you can call drunken screeching 'singing'.  
"Hey, Lisbon, can I ask you something?" Jane said, and she rolled over to face him.  
"Yeah, Jane? What is it?"  
"Why were you so concerned about what people would think of us hiding under the table?" Jane asked, and Lisbon knew he knew the answer. He just wanted to hear it from her.  
"You know why, Jane. People might think we're having an affair or something." Lisbon said, and she rolled onto her back so that he couldn't see that she was blushing.  
"Come on, Lisbon. No one would think that. They know you're dedicated to your job, and I'm dedicated to finding Red John." Jane said, gently brushing a lock of hair out of Lisbon's face.  
Lisbon closed her eyes and sighed. "I know, Jane, I just don't want rumors being spread, that's all."  
"I understand that, Lisbon. I can tell there's something else bothering you, though." Jane said, and Lisbon found it hard not to kiss him right then. His concern made her love him that much more.  
"Nothing that I should bother you with, Jane." Lisbon said, and she took a few deep breaths to try to slow her heart rate. She usually did her best to bottle up her feelings for him, but if things kept going the way they were going, they'd be making out under that table in three minutes flat.  
"Lisbon, you know I'm here to help you." Jane said, elevating himself on his elbows again so he could look into her face. They locked eyes, and it finally occurred to her that he felt the same way she did. He loved her, and the only thing stopping him was the rule that you can't date within the CBI.  
Lisbon placed her hand on his cheek, feeling the slight stubble on his smooth features. And then, without thinking, she pulled him towards her and kissed him.  
The kiss was brief, but she wanted it to last forever. When they parted their lips, Jane gazed into Lisbon's face, and she could tell how much he loved her.  
"Lisbon..." Jane started, but Lisbon cut him off with another kiss. This one was longer, deeper, more passionate. Her hands ran through his hair, snagging on his beautiful blonde curls. She never wanted it to end.  
But eventually it had to. They separated, and Jane fell onto his back. "Wow, Teresa, that was..."  
Lisbon stared into space, still awestruck by what had just happened. Her hand found his, and for a while they just sat in the darkness under the table, enjoying each other's company.

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote most of this at midnight on October 30th so I think it came out reasonably well  
> Shout out to Entwife_incognito for giving me ideas for songs!


End file.
